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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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‘And the royal family is watching too.’
It was essentially surveillance, as they were observing us to maintain their connection to the Demihuman Alliance.
But in a way, it also meant they were protecting us.
‘I have to utilize everything I can.’
It wasn’t that Athena was stupid and couldn’t think of this.
‘I’m the strange one.’
I perceived what felt like surveillance as protection, and I didn’t feel uncomfortable traveling with someone I disliked, someone close to an enemy.
To be precise, I fixed my perception to think that way.
As a human being, it was impossible to feel good about having to act alongside someone untrustworthy, someone who had betrayed us once.
‘It would be uncomfortable. Unpleasant.’
But if it was necessary, I would do it.
At least Kayla and Baldur were better.
Kayla was a knight from a commoner background, and she had even operated in the underworld.
Baldur was a slave, a trusted slave, and there was always potential for conflict with other slaves.
He had even been tasked with educating those who were forcibly captured…
‘Compared to them, Athena lacks this kind of experience.’
I didn’t know how she was during her time as a vagrant.
But looking at her current attitude, it was obvious that she lacked this kind of experience.
“Even if Annelise works with us, it won’t affect us. You don’t have to worry about her. The undead can protect her. Just think of it as having an extra person to do chores and ignore her.”
I didn’t care what she saw or thought.
A non-existent person.
Within our group, Annelise was going to become a completely non-existent person.
Ignore her.
It might not matter in the short term.
But if it continued…
‘People usually break.’
Their self-esteem would be shattered.
Since she was officially a slave, she couldn’t even run away, and her past actions would weigh on her, preventing her from resisting properly.
There would be nothing she could do but blame herself.
Therefore, she might end up living a life that wasn’t really living.
‘I should lift the curse, though.’
At least for the sake of appearances, I intended to treat her well, especially in front of the royal family.
Of course, I had no intention of giving her a proper weapon.
Especially not a bow.
She specialized in ranged support, but there was no reason to allow her to shoot us in the back.
“I’ll lift the curse for now.”
Annelise’s expression brightened at my words.
It seemed she had been quite frustrated.
Since it was my curse, it wasn’t difficult to undo.
Especially since manipulating demonic energy was my specialty.
As I lifted the curse, Annelise spoke.
“Ah, ah…”
She momentarily expressed joy at the fact that she could speak again, and then bowed her head towards us.
It was a sudden apology.
I didn’t react.
“I’m… I’m sorry for running away. And thank you for sparing my life.”
Her attitude was much different than before.
Despite her changed demeanor, my companions and I remained cold.
“You know you did wrong. How does it feel to have made the same mistake as your former companions?”
As a mercenary herself, she would know how serious it was to lose trust and betray one’s companions.
Therefore, Annelise couldn’t say anything.
“Don’t expect us to trust you. Stay quiet. Just do what you’re told. And then leave.”
Annelise kept her head bowed and didn’t answer.
Kayla and Baldur didn’t say anything either, but they weren’t exactly welcoming her.
‘This is a bit of a headache.’
The atmosphere within the party, which should be supportive and harmonious, was strained because of Annelise.
But I couldn’t abandon her now.
Besides, there were benefits to be gained from this.
‘She’ll slowly adjust.’
It wouldn’t take long for them to ignore her presence.
There was no consideration for Annelise within our group.
“I’ll give you a separate room. But there will be surveillance.”
I assigned two Living Armors and the Specter to guard her.
I told my companions to rest.
As soon as I had time to myself, I thought about what I needed to do.
I intended to lay low until I received the guarantee and gauged the royal family’s reaction.
‘I need to organize things during that time.’
I had broken through.
From 5th class onwards, the possibilities were endless.
I already had plans.
‘I need to improve the Living Armors.’
I had the materials.
‘Soul Shadows.’
I could make them into Specters, but I had a different use in mind.
To be honest, their quality was too low to make into Specters.
A cruel thought suddenly crossed my mind.
‘Her former companions will end up serving as undead.’
Of course, their bodies were destroyed, so their appearance would be completely different.
I only intended to use the Soul Shadows I made from them to strengthen the Living Armors, so it was highly likely that she wouldn’t notice.
‘Does it matter if she doesn’t know?’
She wouldn’t know unless I told her.
There was no need to tell her and even if she noticed, it didn’t matter.
I had no reason to show consideration for Annelise.
‘I need to finish dealing with the sacred relics.’
I would prioritize the essentials and minimize requests.
And…
‘Once the retrieval is complete, I need to go there.’
With the guild’s guarantee, becoming an authorized warlock wouldn’t be difficult.
And considering the situation in the Lineta territory…
‘Negotiations shouldn’t be difficult.’
It would be great if Annelise left our party during that time, but I thought it was unlikely.
‘I’m going to be very busy.’
But my progress would be clearly visible.
It wasn’t a bad feeling.
The next day.
I informed my companions that we would be reducing our activities for a while and focusing on training.
“Well, we need to hear back from them. About Baldur’s slave mark.”
Athena agreed.
“The quality of the requests will change once we receive the guarantee. And we definitely need to organize the things we obtained this time.”
Kayla needed more time to adjust to the artifact she received.
Baldur seemed a bit uneasy.
‘He probably didn’t expect his slave mark to be removed so quickly.’
He might have been skeptical.
I didn’t even involve Annelise.
She was currently confined to her room with the undead.
Of course, she was fed.
I had no intention of starving her to death.
Once my companions agreed with my plan, everything went smoothly.
I rented a warehouse owned by the Mercenary Guild to secure a research space, and I also rented a training ground for my companions.
It was a better choice since we needed it for a long period, not just a short term.
‘Since it’s rented separately, there won’t be anyone watching.’
Colmail actively accommodated our requests.
As soon as we had the space, I started enhancing the undead.
As planned, the first thing I did was enhance the Living Armors.
I started with the other two, excluding the ones guarding Annelise.
First, I put the Living Armors in standby mode.
It was similar to putting them in a vegetative state, and it could be easily done by weakening their connection to me.
‘They’re bound to me.’
After all, the reason undead could achieve immortality was because they were bound to something.
Whether they were bound to me and received my power to maintain their immortality, or like the Land of Death I had used in the past, bound to the land and regenerating based on its power, undead could function because there was a source of power somewhere that granted them immortality.
‘There are cases where they have a will of their own and dominate the source.’
But that was only possible if the source had no will of its own.
Originally, undead rebellions were impossible, regardless of whether the undead had a will of their own or not.
There were exceptions, like those that wandered around without a will, preying on the living to sustain themselves, or those that became liches on their own, but these were extremely rare cases.
‘Becoming a lich on one’s own also involves an undead with a will dominating the source.’
But in those cases, they were created that way from the start, so they were exceptions.
Therefore, most undead were inevitably bound to something, and their functionality would decline if their connection to the source of power weakened.
I partially dismantled the Living Armor, which was now in a semi-vegetative state, and accessed its core.
Then, I brought the Soul Shadow close to the core.
Crackle!
A strong rejection reaction immediately occurred.
It was natural, even though I was their master.
If the core was damaged, it wouldn’t be easily repaired, even if they were connected to me.
If the core, which could be considered their main body, was damaged, it would take time to recover, and in some cases, it might be impossible to recover at all.
Therefore, this rejection reaction wasn’t strange.
I reduced the rejection reaction by contacting the core, which was connected to me, and once the core stabilized, I finally brought the Soul Shadow into contact with it.
———!
The core then merged with the Soul Shadow.
As soon as I confirmed this, I strengthened the connection with the Living Armor again.
I repeated the same process with the other one and then I stored both of them in the seal.
‘It will take some time.’
It was a process of merging and evolving into a better, higher-ranking undead.
Especially since they had absorbed Soul Shadows…
‘If things go well, they might even develop a basic will of their own.’
It was a step towards becoming higher-ranking undead, but their origin as Living Armors would still limit them.
‘Well, there are ways if I obtain better armor…’
And with a few more preparations, it wouldn’t be impossible for them to become top-tier undead.
‘As for the Bone Golem…’
There wasn’t much I could improve.
The Bone Golem itself wasn’t a high-ranking undead.
It was only possible to create one at 5th class because of its massive size, weight, and consequently, its ability to store large amounts of demonic energy.
Simply put, it was a stupid, huge meat shield.
‘But it’s more useful than that.’
Therefore, there weren’t any enhancements I could provide at this stage.
‘As for No. 1 and No. 2… hmm, can they become Knights?’
If they became Knights, I could have them ride skeletal steeds.
I would have to make them separately, but it wasn’t like I couldn’t obtain horse corpses.
‘Skeletal steeds are easier to make compared to phantom steeds, which require the soul of a noble steed or multiple horse souls.’
Plus, they were tireless steeds, making them incredibly useful.
I summoned No. 1 and No. 2 and checked their condition.
‘It seems possible for No. 2…’
It had grown significantly.
After all, the quality of its base corpse was incomparable to No. 1.
No. 1 was a skeleton created from the corpse of a mere hunter through a stroke of luck, while No. 2’s base corpse was that of a knight.
And not just any knight, but an Expert-level knight who could manipulate mana.
Therefore, no matter how many enhancements No. 1 had received and how long it had been my servant, its abilities were inevitably inferior to No. 2.
‘But it’s not far behind.’
No. 1 had been with me throughout my growth, and it was the one that had been most influenced by me.
It was inferior to No. 2, but it had received many enhancements, so if I paid a little more attention to it, it seemed it could reach the Knight level like No. 2.
‘I need to prepare more Black Bones.’
Its size would increase, and it would be able to equip more diverse equipment.
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[i hope annelise dies in the end fuck her]
